The names of oil and gas fields offer a way for Anglophones to acquire some non-English vocabulary. Some field names are similar to English but many are not.
OGJ’s style has not been too consistent over the years but in general OGJ style is to change a field’s name to an English spelling if the name is similar to an English word. OGJ style also calls for not translating the name to an English word if the meaning is not obvious.
OGJ currently does not add diacritical marks on letters and does not change letters with diacritical marks to their phonetic equivalent. For instance, an “a” with two dots above it in OGJ style is just an “a” and is not written as “aa.” In addition, an “o” with a slash through it is an “o” and not “oh.”
Portuguese
With much activity off Brazil and Angola, many giant fields have Portuguese names. Off Brazil, field names often relate to the marine environment.
Whale Park or Parque da Baleia is an area currently under development for both heavy oil and lighter oil from the presalt section in the Campos basin off Brazil’s Espirito Santo state.
The fields in the area are named for whales. The translations for the names based on information from Wikipedia are:
- Jubarte—Humpback whale.
- Cachalota—Sperm whale.
- Baleia Ana—Minke whale.
- Baleia Azul—Blue whale.
- Baleia Franca—Right whale.
Another area under development in the Campos basin is Shell Park or Parque das Conchas. A unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC operates the fields in Shell Park that includes Argonauta, Nautilus, Ostra, and Abalone. These field names are the same or easily translate to the English words Argonaut (paper nautilus), Nautilus, Oyster, and Abalone.
Fish names are another theme off Brazil with the English spelling being the same or similar to Portuguese for fields such as Albacora (Albacore Tuna), Barracuda (Barracuda), Marlim (Marlin), and Roncador (Roncador).
According to Wikipedia, Roncador is a fish found on the West Coast of North America, which is news to me.
Another field off Brazil is Golfinho or Dolphin in English.
Not all field names off Brazil relate to the marine environment. For instance, the giant presalt discovery Tupi in the Santos basin is named after a main group of Brazilian indigenous people.
Another presalt discovery in Santos basin Carioca, according to Wikipedia, refers to the city of Rio de Janeiro and originally comes from the word “Kara’i oca,” which is from the indigenous Amerindian language of the Tupi people, meaning “white man’s house.”
The name Iara, another presalt discovery, derives also from the Tupi language. A Brazilian poet made up the name from two Tupi words and in Brazil it refers to a mermaid as well as being a popular girl’s name, according to an explanation on the internet.
Portuguese names are also found off Angola. Block 17 has fields named after flowers such as Girassol (Sunflower), Violetta (Violet), Tulipa (Tulip), Rosa (Rose), Orquidea (Orchid), Lirio (Iris), Pazflor (Passion flower), and Cravo (Carnation).
Field names in Block 31 off Angola come from the names of planets such as Plutao (Pluto), Saturna (Saturn), Venus (Venus), and Marte (Mars).
Block 18 discoveries include names of elements such as Plutonio (Plutonium), Paladio (Paladium), Platina (Platinum), Galio (Gallium), Cromio (Chromium), and Cobalto (Cobalt).
Names of spices designate discoveries in Block 32 such as Gindungo (Chili pepper), Canela (Cinnamon), Gengibre (Ginger), and Mostarda (Mustard).
Vietnamese
This week’s special report has an article (p. 66) on development of discoveries off Vietnam with such names as Su Tu Den (Black Lion), Su Tu Nua (Brown Lion), Su Tu Vang (Golden Lion), and Su Tu Trang (White Lion).
Other fields in Vietnam include Bach Ho (White Tiger), Ca Ngu Vang (Golden Tuna), Rong Doi (Twin Dragon), and Rong Doi Tay (Twin Dragon West).
